Let me first clear something up. A ristretto means a restricted shot. That by definition means you shorten the flow for the espresso in the same time range as a normal shot. It does not mean you start pulling 20 second shots (that would be underextraction a la Sbucks method) and cutting the shot early by time, you actually have to change the grind and make adjustments to get the volume shortened in a normal extraction time. The dose is often heavier and the roast is often a bit darker but it does not imply shorter time.
We have been working on a new offering since the Cardenas arrived. It's interesting as we have been trying to come up with a more ristretto style shot. Now don't get me wrong, it still falls into our clean flavor profile but it has the deep viscosity and syrupy texture you desire without getting into the smoker's palate notes of tobacco and spice. The acidity is muted but the origin characters remain, a feat in and of itself. It even has the flecking and deep red visual cues with out the color corrected photo's help. The dominant notes of our blend right now are berries, vanilla, and brown sugar leading into cocoa. Some interesting aromas come into play but you gotta pull this tight. It is our best NY style espresso (very tight shot) attempt to date but done to a barismo taste profile (clean).
It pulls as an 18g double ristretto or a down dosed triple ristretto. Sorta Ecco style for the savy barista's out there. Tight and thick yields a soft texture and creamy profile. I had an 18g double this morning @ 201.5F just under an ounce that really was exciting.
While the L. Street pulls best around 198f 16g ~2oz right now, this new blend is the apple to that orange. Different, but both are special.
The new blend doesn't have a name yet (I guarantee it won't be something vaguely Italian sounding) but should be on the shelf at the roasterie and in a select cafe we will promote sometime next week.
Showing posts with label Kiandu. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kiandu. Show all posts
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Sunday, October 05, 2008
New crops arriving...
It's been a busy week. Last week and it looks like next week also.
This week, our new premium Kenya arrived in beautiful boxes sealed in shiny bags that popped open with the smell of fresh coffee. We profiled it and I think the final production profile was laid out Saturday morning. There will be more tweaks but I think we found the sweet spot. From that Saturday morning berried vanilla result came a much sweeter and more powerful cup. A tiny adjustment in a variable most have no control over put this coffee on the top shelf for me. I'll talk more about that soon as I have more fresh new coffees coming. Some more vacuum packaged stuff like the Kiandu was and a lot more work to do.
We debuted the newest Kenya, the Kiandu Microlot 9686, in an open house event this Saturday. We received a lot of positive response from the visitors who tried it. It went over great in Syphon but I noticed something odd. A lot of people in this area seem to cringe about Kenyan coffees. It's the acidity issue which I think is a touchy topic. Our fruit in the Kenya is juicy but not the tannin tart acidity you very often taste. To which, the response I have formulated is that drying astringency is not necessarily the terroir of the coffee, quite often it is a byproduct of the roast applied to it. Don't throw out the whole origin based on a few bad experiences. It's hard to get people to try something when previous experiences have been unpleasant. The feedback on this Kiandu was that it was really sweet, really juicy, and we won over more than a few converts to what Kenyan coffees are like in our profile.
Today was also another chance for us to debut our Kiandu at an event hosted by the coffee club at Olin College. We went out and did a talk on everything from processing methods to grinders and brewing. It was a good turnout (by one observer's note, almost 10% of enrollment showed for the event ;)) and we were appreciative of the interest. We kept it free flowing and informal but the audience was great and it was a lot of fun. The Kiandu in Syphon really was the highlight of the tasting though only a few days earlier, I was really sweating bullets over that coffee's roast profile.
That's generally how the business has been as we have fought so much to get up and running. A lot of ups and so many downs but we keep pushing forward. There are moments of doubt, self reflection, and then I just push forward. For that, there is nothing else I can say.
Next week, it will take a few roasts to get the Guatemalan coffees profiled to my overly critical group's liking but the lessons learned from this week will surely be essential to getting those Guatemalan coffees nailed quickly. Keep an eye out for them, we'll be busy working them over.
This week, our new premium Kenya arrived in beautiful boxes sealed in shiny bags that popped open with the smell of fresh coffee. We profiled it and I think the final production profile was laid out Saturday morning. There will be more tweaks but I think we found the sweet spot. From that Saturday morning berried vanilla result came a much sweeter and more powerful cup. A tiny adjustment in a variable most have no control over put this coffee on the top shelf for me. I'll talk more about that soon as I have more fresh new coffees coming. Some more vacuum packaged stuff like the Kiandu was and a lot more work to do.
We debuted the newest Kenya, the Kiandu Microlot 9686, in an open house event this Saturday. We received a lot of positive response from the visitors who tried it. It went over great in Syphon but I noticed something odd. A lot of people in this area seem to cringe about Kenyan coffees. It's the acidity issue which I think is a touchy topic. Our fruit in the Kenya is juicy but not the tannin tart acidity you very often taste. To which, the response I have formulated is that drying astringency is not necessarily the terroir of the coffee, quite often it is a byproduct of the roast applied to it. Don't throw out the whole origin based on a few bad experiences. It's hard to get people to try something when previous experiences have been unpleasant. The feedback on this Kiandu was that it was really sweet, really juicy, and we won over more than a few converts to what Kenyan coffees are like in our profile.
Today was also another chance for us to debut our Kiandu at an event hosted by the coffee club at Olin College. We went out and did a talk on everything from processing methods to grinders and brewing. It was a good turnout (by one observer's note, almost 10% of enrollment showed for the event ;)) and we were appreciative of the interest. We kept it free flowing and informal but the audience was great and it was a lot of fun. The Kiandu in Syphon really was the highlight of the tasting though only a few days earlier, I was really sweating bullets over that coffee's roast profile.
That's generally how the business has been as we have fought so much to get up and running. A lot of ups and so many downs but we keep pushing forward. There are moments of doubt, self reflection, and then I just push forward. For that, there is nothing else I can say.
Next week, it will take a few roasts to get the Guatemalan coffees profiled to my overly critical group's liking but the lessons learned from this week will surely be essential to getting those Guatemalan coffees nailed quickly. Keep an eye out for them, we'll be busy working them over.
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